The present invention relates to a machine for the separation and/or counting of pieces of money or similar articles.
To separate and/or count pieces one of the essential operations for correctness of result consists in placing the pieces one behind the other so that a single piece at a time is presented to subsequent work stations.
To this end it is known to utilize a circular path supported by a plate or a hollow rotating vessel and surrounded at least locally by a fixed cylindrical wall on which roll and bear by centrifugal force the edges of the pieces fed to the path by any known means.
An opening in the fixed wall provides an exit by which the pieces, subject to centrifugal force, are ejected in the direction of subsequent work stations.
In such apparatus used alone errors in counting can occur when at least one piece has a diameter of or a thickness at least equal to one half of the corresponding dimension of the largest piece since then the exit can pass two small pieces circulating side by side or one on the other.
Numerous means are known to separate pieces located above pieces resting directly on the circular path before reaching the exit. For example, certain constructions utilize to this end rotating brushes and/or rollers of flexible material to cause the rejection of such pieces into a central zone defined by the internal surface of the path before reaching the exit.
Other very efficient apparatus had been described by the present applicant. This construction comprises on the element bordering the circular path a zone bearing on the pieces resting directly on the circular path which has a different profile from that of a bearing zone for the pieces located at an upper level just upstream of the exit with the last zone providing a ramp on which the pieces in this zone are projected into the central zone thus preventing passage through the exit.
Heretofore there has been no means known to efficiently separate pieces circulating side by side before they reach the exit from the device. The present invention therefore provides a separating and/or counting machine for pieces of money and similar articles which assures separation of pieces circulating side by side to eliminate this source of error.